Some basic newbie questions

F

flyboy129

Hello all. Thank you for allowing me to join. I am restoring and modifying a 1985 Dodge crew cab truck for myself. I am pretty much sold on what I have read as far as epoxy primers, and spi seems to be the ticket. I have a few questions.

(1) I want to know if I have an apropriate game plan for strip to paint.

Aircraft remover
remove paint
wash/dry
sand with 80 grit
wax and grease remover
tack cloth
first coat of SPI epoxy 1:1
allow to dry for a couple of hours
second coat of epoxy 1:1
allow to dry at least overnight
possibly move into sun the next day to cure
scuff with scotchbright/180 g if over 48 hours
filler and seam sealer
cut in
epoxy any bare areas
2k
block
final epoxy coat as seal coat
wait 2 hours and spray base

This is my basic plan. Feel free to critique me on it. I will be spraying this in a garage with doors open for ventilation. Probably will spray toward mid to late summer. Paint will possibly come in the fall when humidity goes down.

(2) As far as fillers go. What should I look for in a quality filler? I am leaning toward a lightweight filler from napa or carquest just for ease of availability.

(3)As far as seam sealers, this is what I'm strongly considering: http://www.3m.com/product/information/Marine-Fast-Cure-5200-Adhesive-Sealant.html
Here is the msds with ingredients listed near the top: http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/mediawebserver?mwsId=SSSSSuUn_zu8l00x482958_SPv70k17zHvu9lxtD7SSSSSS--

It states it can be painted over when cured (at least 2 days) as long as the paint is not rigid/stays flexible.

(4) I had serious roof rust in the original cab. I lucked up and found a second cab that had a good roof, but was rotted out on the lower end (jambs, rockers, pans) I drilled the spotwelds out of the inner metal skins and cut the outer skins to graft the good roof to the food lower cab. One big area I removed the inner skin from was the b pillar. Since it was bare metal when welded up at the factory, it has a layer of surface rust which I will remove. How will epoxy primer hold if I use it on the inside of the pillar before buttoning it back up? Keep in mind, I will spot weld the panel back into place. Any thoughts or comments on this appreciated. I will attach a pic of the jamb as well as others of the cab.

Thank you all! IMG_0489.jpg

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I don't see any major problems with your basic plan, just be sure to wash and wash and wash to get all (I mean every trace) of the stripper off and out of all the crevices. As for filler, Evercoat Z-grip is a good building filler and pretty easy to work with. Rage, rage gold, and rage extreme are also good, but a little more pricey. I personally use Z-grip and Marson/3M platinum fillers and USC Icing for a glazing putty. The 3M seam sealers seem to have more shrinkage than some, but I have not had any other problems with them when used over epoxy. I have recently started to use the Fusior brand 2 part seam sealers and like them so far. On the B pillar section, once prepped, mark where your spot welds will be and use a small piece of masking tape to protect that area. Apply the epoxy and remove the tape when dry for a clean surface to weld too. Another good idea I read was to brush all the seams with epoxy prior to spraying. When you brush it, it runs down into the seams where it would likely not get too when sprayed. I am sure other's will give more and possibly better information and suggestions. best of luck with it, you will find reputable information here without the drama.

Kelly
 
I see "cut in" on the list, if this means painting the jambs, it's usually done later in the process, after the bodywork has been primed and blocked. Otherwise it looks pretty solid.

Filler selection tends to be somewhat a matter of personal taste, but I think you should generally avoid store brands or lower priced products. Right now I use Marson (3M) Platinum (not Platinum +) and Evercoat products for poly putty/glaze, but everyone has different ideas. Just don't go cheap.
 
I see "cut in" on the list, if this means painting the jambs, it's usually done later in the process, after the bodywork has been primed and blocked. Otherwise it looks pretty solid.

Filler selection tends to be somewhat a matter of personal taste, but I think you should generally avoid store brands or lower priced products. Right now I use Marson (3M) Platinum (not Platinum +) and Evercoat products for poly putty/glaze, but everyone has different ideas. Just don't go cheap.
 
I use evercoat rage for fillers, a bit more pricey but it seems with cheap fillers I spend the difference on sandpaper plus more of my time, I have wanted to try the 3m marson but its not available to me locally. As far as stripping I haven't ever had much luck with chem strippers and just get after it with the strip discs or rolocs.
 
Cut in for me means sanding the filler to match body profile. Chemical strippers is better for me simply because I have a small compressor that doesn't have the cfm flow required to run my D/A sander. While the big compressor is on the list, it won't be available before primer. All I have as far as usable sanders is an electrical random orbit. What about the epoxy in the b pillar when I re-weld it together?
 
Epoxy anywhere you can get it for sure. A heads up, I know many aren't fans but you can get the 3m corps discs to fit a 4-1/2 and 7" grinder, you have to be on top of them and move quickly but they are how I moved to bare metal on my fenders decklid and roof. They remove paint fast, but like I said they will take the steel under if you don't work quick.

Best of luck

Bo

PS I hope the bigger compressor is in the works for spraying? If your compressor won't run a d/a or angle grinder it won't do well with a paintgun either.

Also I forgot, a nice gasket scraper, razor blade style, kicked pretty good ass on the flat stuff that the paint was kind of together on....
 
I have never tryed this but I had a guy tell me he uses an electric da and works great. I think he said he got it at lowes or Home Depot
 
nothing wrong with that plan

EXCEPT!I dont use chemical strippers.Been there dont that!IT can come back to haunt you!I use a8" IR mudhog with 80 grit and rolocs or 3m stripper discs,
 
I have a smaller compressor 3HP/6gal that does fine with the spray guns. They pull nowhere near what a DA will. The compressor still ran a bit more using the guns, but if I plugged a DA into it, then barely hit the trigger (just a quick tap), that compressor was running. It did fine as the source of air when I shot my old work truck.
 
Just put of curiosity what kind of gun are you using?? Mine are all hogs.
 
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